Homecoming
by Jasperium-Z
Summary: A shinx, a former human. After saving the Pokémon world, he supposedly disappeared from existence until he suddenly return. An epiphany. A reunion. Watch as this hero returns and comes to terms with his new Pokémon life. (PMD 2 AU where the hero doesn't immediately reunites with his partner after reappearing)


The silence of the basement of Beach Cave was only interrupted by the dripping of water from the stalactites onto the clear pond that surrounds the shore. That is, until a bright yellow light shine brightly at the centre of the room. It started out strong, but grew dimmer with each passing second until only a shinx is left at its wake.

This shinx, in particular, is Leon. Originally a human and from the future, he and his partner, a vulpix named Scarlet, prevented the collapse of Temporal Tower to stop time from... well, stopping. This came with some sacrifices though, the shinx's former partner, Grovyle, dragged Dusknoir, who was stopping their advancements of saving time, back into the future and due to future being altered after saving Temporal Tower, all Pokémon from the former future had to disappear, including Leon.

He is back now of course, the Pokémon in question just did not know why.

The former human looked at his surroundings; he is in Beach Cave alright, the same cave where he had his first adventure with Scarlet. The thought of Scarlet got him thinking of her wellbeing. She did not take his disappearance too lightly; he just hopes she is coping with it well.

He is shaken out of his stupor when his stomach growled; the sound resonating throughout the empty room. He can worry about the details later; he is still in a dungeon after all so is getting hungry fast and he does not have supplies as his treasure bag is presumably with Scarlet.

Without any second thought, he turns around and starts to head towards the entrance. Despite being non-existent for Arceus knows how long, Leon is surprised to find out that he is able to walk as well as he did before. He guesses that his disappearance did not affect his instincts in any way. Leon went by the dungeon with no sweat despite his lack of items. Not only because it is Beach Cave but most of the hostile Pokémon were sleeping and for those who weren't he just snuck past them. Leon did wonder why most of the Pokémon are sleeping but he did have a sneaking suspicion. His suspicions are confirmed when he exits out of the cave.

Apparently, it is already night time; apparent by the image of the moon reflecting off the deep, dark blue sea with reflections of the stars twinkling throughout. Leon absentmindedly trotted towards the spot where he had first met Scarlet, where his grand adventure as a human-turned-Pokémon from the future with amnesia began. He left countless paw prints in the sand, his paws soaked from the lumpy sand. He just stared off into the distance, admiring the view as the wave pound the cliff with insurmountable force. Of course, it isn't as pretty as it is during sunset he thought but it is still pretty nonetheless. The view makes him glad that he sacrificed himself for the future of Pokémon. They get to live their lives and follow their dreams instead of being trapped in a dark, gloomy world where every day is a survival of the fittest and no dreams can be achived.

Before his mind can wander off even further however, his stomach is kind enough to bring him back into reality with a grumble reminding him that he hasn't really eaten anything yet. He was unlucky enough to not run into a single food item during his trek back up from Becah Cave and he isn't really willing to go back there right now despite its non-existent difficulty. Plus, judging from how most of the Pokémon in Beach Cave is sleeping, it is probably really late so the guild is out of the question too. With that in mind, he started moving towards the only option available, Sharpedo Bluff.

* * *

After carefully walking through Treasure Town, making sure not to wake anyone up, he reached the bluff. Remembering how Scarlet revealed the entrance to the hollow cliff side, he slid the bush and headed down the stairs and into an empty room. Due to the circumstances he was facing when he first entered the bluff, he did not realise how impressive the place looks for being just a hollow cliff side. The protruding rocks resembling a sharpedo's jaws impressing him the most.

Scarlet told him that she always keep emergency rations just in case. So Leon scoured the whole area until he found it in a crate at the far end of the room. Leon did feel kind of guilty for just taking the food like this. He thinks that he should probably apologise and pay her back later when he meets her again.

Grabbing a haystack and kindling a fire, he sat near the fire and ate his fill. He is surprised at how much he missed these, especially the pecha berry. He found out that he is a sweet tooth, always saving the sweet and savoury berries for last so he can finish his dinner with a gulp of sickeningly sweet juices. Scarlet always finds this weird. After eating, he puts out the fire and tries to sleep but he just isn't tired enough so he just stared off into the distance and allowed his mind to wander once more. As he thought of the past adventures with Scarlet before Temporal Tower, there was one thought on his mind that pestered him to no end.

His humanity

When he joined the guild with Scarlet, he was so certain that he can find the secrets of his humanity.Even when he was in the future, his ever lingering question went unanswered as the only answer that Grovyle and Celebi gave him was that they just found him as a human-like-creature defending himself from a hostile Pokémon. It made the shinx wonder if he is actually was a human or just a really humanoid-like Pokémon, considering that they are considered a myth according to multiple sources in this world. Heck, it is not just humanity, even the origins of his Dimensional Scream is so vague to him. Sure, he knew how it is triggered but nothing beyond that.

Leon feels so frustrated. He had triumphed over countless Pokémon, trekked through uncharted land, transcended time itself but still not obtain the answers he seeks. The former human sulked for a while before wondering...

Does he even need to know?

Yes it does blow not knowing where his human origins came from but he is technically a Pokémon now and he doubts he can become human again even after finding out his human origins. And even then, does he even want to? He is now a Pokémon, living in a world with a Pokémon's way of living with Pokémon food and Pokémon friends and even though he accepted disappearing after saving time, he is back now. It is finally high time, he figured, to finally let go of that broken piece of him, the countless shards that make up his humanity and accept his new, peaceful life as a Pokémon. With that decision made, Leon felt like a weight had been lifted off his back. He feels lighter, in a sense, free from the expectation of discovering his human origins. He did not even notice how much emotional baggage he has been holding on with him.

With that being said and done, Leon vowed to return to the guild, to return to his life as a Pokémon as he tries to fall asleep again and promptly fail again as a bright light shined through the gaps of the bluff, signalling a new morning. Leon was going to attempt to sleep again when he had an idea. He had to be quick though, they could be waking up at any moment. After cleaning up the bluff and closing back the entrance with the bush, he quickly made his way to the guild, being careful not to wake the residence of Treasure Town. He wanted them to be the first ones to see him.

* * *

After climbing up what seems to be an endless flight of stairs, he now comes face to face with the guild he was wroking endlessly at before his disappearance, represented by the guild master's face. It looks so barebones now that Leon gets a good look at it. If it wasn't for the Pokémon-like totem poles and the torches next to the building he would have thought this was just an ordinary tent of sorts. Speaking of those torches, the flames that they hold are still flickering, signalling that the members have not left the guild yet. In front of Leon's front paws is the grate, the same grate that single-handedly scared his vilpix partner. It was silly now that he looked back, considering the strong and brave vixen that she has become now. But without the grate, he could have never met Scarlet in the first place. So, now that he thinks about it, the grate is basically the start of it all.

Before he could step onto the grate to finally make himself known after being gone for so long, he hears cheers coming from the grate...

"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK!"

"TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!"

"THREE! SMILES GOES FOR MILES!"

That feels nostalgic. Sure, having Loudred basically shout at his and Scarlet's eardrums is not pleasant, the guild training is tough and rigorous and the fact that the guild takes 90% of their earnings is a bit of a low blow but waking up to this chant, interacting with the guild members and exploring with Scarlet always makes it worth it. Leon's eyes watered, he is overcome with the fact he gets to train in the guild again, all the joy and laughter that he will have with the members and this time safe from knowledge that the world is now saved. He quickly wiped his tears though, he wanted his appearance to be a surprise for them and he had not much time left before the front gate opens.

Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, he quickly stepped onto the grate. Time seems to slow down for him as he waited for a response of some kind from stepping onto the grate, agonisingly slow in fact. He even wondered if the sentry is even at their post yet and wanted to knock on the grate to get the guild's attention. Before he can even think of enacting this however...

"Pokémon Detected!"

"Pokémon Detected!"

There is only one Pokémon he knows that has that shrill voice. The lump in his throat is coming back, he quickly swallowed it down again though. He wanted to be strong when they see him again.

"Whose footprint?"

"Whose footprint?"

Leon felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Had he felt this before? It then dawned on him that this isn't the first time this happened. He recalled the first time was when he and Scarlet came back from the future. The difference now being that Leon is now standing on the grate, alone.

"The footprint is..."

The shrill voice started out strong.

"The footprint is..."

It then wavered.

"T-the f-footp-print is..."

"SENTRY! What's WRONG?"

There was then silence for a while, with only the echoes of those three words reverberating thorugh the air. A few moments later however, the sound of burrowing can be heard until...

"POP!"

The sound of dirt making way for a certain mole Pokémon can be heard and Leon came face to face with the aforementioned mole Pokémon, smiling all the while.

_"I have to stay strong." _He thought.

The diglett however, looked flabbergsated. Shocked that, who they thought was once gone, who ceased to exist, is standing right before him. He burrowed foward, "Leon, is that you?" Said shinx gave a nod of affirmation for Diglett. "Y-you're back..."

* * *

_Leon, is that you?_

If the silence in the guild can turn any quieter, you will 'hear' it right now. The slightest pin drop will sound like a scream at that moment.

_Y-you're back..._

The silence is then made way for a stomping frenzy as everyone in the guild rush to open the gate and made their way to the entrance except for a certain fox who is still standing there in shock.

The front gate slowly rose up with each passing moment of it rising creating a huge clanking noise until it finally rose to the top with a resounding clang. Not long after, multiple Pokémon came out of the entrance and stood there, like Diglett, staring into the one they deemed did not exist anymore. Leon could see the tears coming from everyone, even Croagunk, who is the one to have no emotions. Leon, seeing this, wanted to cry as well, to tell them that he did miss them. He held it back again though. At this point, he is not sure why he wanted to put on a strong façade in a reunion. As far as he is aware, sobbing is perfectly acceptable. Maybe it is because he told Scarlet to be strong during his departure and wanted to take his own advice. He isn't sure.

He is caught out of his reverie when everyone suddenly decided to shout his name and caught him in the largest bear hug you can imagine (mostly thanks to Loudred's huge hands). After letting him go from the vice grip, he isn't given a chance to rest as he is bombarded with cheers soon after.

"I can't believe you're BACK Leon!"

"By gosh, it is truly you!"

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so happy you're back!"

"Of course you came back! We made sure the sea guided you here!"

"Meh-heh-heh!"

"Hey, hey! This is great!"

"I'm so glad you're back Leon!"

"I'd always knew you'd come back! I had no doubts at all!"

"Welcome back Leon!"

With all the voices going off at sporadic intervals, it was pretty for Leon to identify them all (barring Diglett who did not speak). Though, he did notice that someone is missing...

"Leon?"

As in right on cue, the members that are blocking his view of the remaining member moved aside as they reveal the owner of the voice that just spoke.

Scarlet

For what seems to be for the third time, he is stuck playing a staring contest. This one lasted way shorter though as Leon's partner quickly ran up to him and gave him a tight hug and tears start flowing her eyes, soaking into the shinx's fur. "I-it's been a full year. E-exactly one year since you d-disappeared... I thought y-you'll never c-come back... I-I've missed you! Please don't ever again!" She said in between hiccups from her sobs.

Seeing his partner, who he formed his new memories with, who he has explored countless dungeons with him, who has saved the world alongside him, crying like this crushed him. So much so in fact that he can't hold it anymore. All the pent up emotions that he had forcefully held up to that point finally flowed out as tears trickled down his face with reassuring her that he will never leave her again.

The guild members then watched on in silence as the two shared their tearful reunion, happy for them and more important, happy for Scarlet. As you can tell, Scarlet did not feel so great considering it is the one year anniversary of the world being saved and consequently, Leon's disappearance. With Leon's reappearance however, they are happy that Scarlet can return back to her original, cheerful self again.

As for the shinx, sure he may not know his human origins and yes, he is going to get bombarded by Treasure Town's residents but he has a new life here with great friends and an even greater partner. This starts a new chapter of his life.

* * *

As their reunion continues on, the winds of hope billow above them. Words could be heard from it, seemingly sending a message.

_"The wind! The light! If you can carry my message... Please send it to Leon and Scarlet! Thanks to you, the future has been freed from darkness! And we... and the other Pokémon in the future... are safe! We didn't disappear! From now on, we're going to combine our strengths and rebuild this world. For Celebi, who has supported me all this way... After this... Above all, we... are still alive!"_

_"Leon! Scarlet! Can you hear me?! We are still alive!!"_

* * *

In the distance, a shadowy figure watches on. The last plan may have failed but he is sure that this will work, in fact it has already begun, evident by the fact that that meddling shinx returned later than he's supposed to, he even appeared in the wrong area. This is a good sign. There is still more work to be done however. There is a certain shinx and vulpix he needs to eliminate. With that, he leaves to put his plan into motion.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I guess this can be considered HeroxPartner if you squint hard enough.**

**So you**** may have noticed that I did not give Leon any sort of dialogue. I thought this is fitting considering the hero doesn't really talk at all in the games.**

**I also really wanted to shoehorn Grovyle in way earlier in the story but only able to at the end and kind of a Deus ex machina way too but hey, video game logic right?**

**This probably has mistakes aplenty so criticisms are appreciated.**


End file.
